What Really Matters
by froggirl80
Summary: Shawn Spencer was the type of guy who always went for the slender, modeltype girl.  Katie MacNabb, Officer Buzz MacNabb's little sister,  was the total opposite.  Fullfigured, frumpy, and not a model, she was far from the dream girl that Shawn envisioned.
1. Chapter 1

_**FLASHBACK 1994**_

_**It was just a few weeks before the Santa Barbara High School senior prom. Everyone was getting ready, dresses and tuxedos were getting bought, limos were being rented, and plans for after parties were being made. And everyone was getting dates. 18-year-old Shawn Spencer had already asked Natalie Amber Toscana. She was simply the prettiest, coolest, most popular girl at school. She was head cheerleader, homecoming queen, class president, and a local teen model. And Shawn was the envy of every guy. Shawn's best friend, Burton "Gus" Guster had a date, too. He was taking Luanne Stephens, his good friend from his chemistry class. Luanne was the nicest girl that Gus had ever met. She was very sweet and kind. She volunteered at a local hospital and at her church. She got straight A's and was chosen to be valedictorian for their graduating class. Gus was so excited to get a date and he shared his excited with Shawn after school. An ecstatic Gus met up with Shawn at their cars after school. **_

"_**Guys, guys, you will never believe it!" Gus said.**_

"_**What? You finally kissed a girl?" mocked Shawn.**_

_**Gus responded with a curt "No." Then, he perked up. "You will never guess who I'm taking to prom."**_

"_**You finally found a date?" Shawn responded. "You mean, you're not taking your cousin, Kelsey?"**_

_**At first, Shawn just laughed. **_

"_**No, I'm taking Luanne Stephens," Gus responded, excitedly. **_

_**All the boys stared at him for a few seconds. **_

"_**No, dude, seriously, who are you taking?" Shawn asked.**_

"_**I just told you, Luanne Stephens," he said, seriously.**_

_**Shawn laughed hard.**_

_**Gus was not pleased. "Why on earth are you laughing?"**_

_**Shawn stopped and said, "How do I put this delicately? She's a dog."**_

_**Gus was horrified. "She is not!" He retorted.**_

"_**Come on, dude, she is," Shawn said. "She's no Jennifer Aniston."**_

_**Gus had to admit that Luanne wasn't Jennifer Aniston. She was slightly overweight and wore glasses. But she had a beautiful face, pretty eyes, and a gorgeous smile. Gus thought she was beautiful because of her personality **_

"_**Well, Shawn, she may not look like Jennifer Aniston," he explained. "But she is a nice person and she is very sweet, something that Natalie Amber isn't."**_

_**With that, a hurt Gus walked away.**_

PRESENT DAY

Shawn Spencer was sitting at the Psych offices, putting his feet on his desk and throwing a ball.

Gus came into the office and asked, "So, Shawn, how was the blind date I set you up with?"

Shawn stopped throwing the ball and looked at him. "It was horrible."

"What do you mean, horrible?" Gus asked, as he helped himself to a cup of coffee.

"Gus, why did you set me up with a youth minister?" He asked.

"Come on, Cheryl is a nice lady," he said.

"Gus, look at me," Shawn said, standing up and waving his hand across his lean body. "Do I look like the kind of dude who would date a youth minister? I mean, look at how she dresses."

"What about how she dresses?" Gus asked, sitting down at his desk, flipping through mail.

"She wore black pants with a lacy shirt that covered everything," Shawn explained, as he pushed his chair towards Gus. "And she had her hair pulled back and wore very little make-up. She looked like a younger version of my grandmother."

"Shawn, did you even bother to get to know Cheryl?" he asked. "Do you know that she writes poetry? Or that she bakes for the homeless?"

Shawn's face fell. "Well, she may have mentioned that in our conversation."

Gus looked at Shawn and said, "You know, Shawn, you are about as deep as a Frisbee."

"What do you mean, 'I'm as deep as a Frisbee?'" Shawn demanded.

"I mean that you are so swallow," he said. "When it comes to a girl, you only about how they look like; whether they're thin or pretty or wear sexy clothes."

"That's not true," Shawn said. "I look at their legs as well."

"I rest my case," Gus said, as he sat back and slipped his coffee.

Shawn stood at his desk for a few minutes and thought about that Gus had said. It's true. All his life, since he was first interested in girls, he had always gone for the pretty girl, the one who wore nice, short skirts and wore lots of make-up. He never bothered to get to know the person. Perhaps that is why he never had a real relationship or never was in love. He just looked at the cover but never read the book.


	2. Welcome to Southern California

_**Author's Note:**__** Meet Katie MacNabb, little sister of Officer Buzz MacNabb. I must say, I'm quite nervous about this chapter. I do not want to offend anyone. If I do, I am truly sorry. This subject matter is something that I am dealing with and have dealt with since I was 5 years old. I hope you enjoy this. God bless**_

Buzz MacNabb was on the police officers at the Santa Barbara Police Department and was a good friend of Shawn's. However, he wasn't working today, he was busy helping his kid sister, Katelyn "Katie" move to California from Minnesota. Katie had recently gotten a scholarship to attend medical school at Walden University in Santa Barbara and she was moving into a house with her best friend, Charlotte "Charlie" Stevens. Charlotte knew Katie best; the two had grown up together in Minnesota and were best friends since they were little girls. In fact, Charlotte offered to have Katie move in with her since Char had lived in Santa Barbara for years. Buzz and his wife, Francine, "Franny" were helping her move into the house. After organizing everything and getting the boxes stored, Buzz and Katie sat on the front porch, looking over the ocean.

"I can't believe this," marveled Katie. "In Minnesota, the only beachy area I saw was the lake and now, I'm gonna be living and going to school by the beach. It's insane. It's amazing."

"It's amazingly insane," Buzz said.

Katie laughed and said, "Buzz, that's not a word."

"Well, excuse me, Dr. MacNabb," he said, ruffling her hair.

"Hey, it's not Dr. MacNabb for at least a few years," Katie said, as she walked to cooler and got out two bottles of water.

"Well, it will be," he said, accepting a bottled water.

Katie smiled and said, "Yeah, it will."

With that, brother and sister settled in for a night of star watching.

The next day, Charlotte threw a party to introduce Katie to her new friends. Charlotte knew this would be the best thing for Katie, since Katie was so sociable and friendly. However, Katie was nervous about meeting Charlotte's friends. From various TV shows and movies she had seen about California, Katie knew how beautiful and glamorous Southern California girls were. And she knew that she didn't fit that description. Katie was far from a stereotypical California girl; she was brunette, full-figured, and overweight. Katie had been struggling with her weight for sometime and it was not easy. She just hoped that her new friends in California would accept her. After an hour of looking through her closet, Katie settled on a modest, black two-piece swimsuit underneath of blue capris and a black tank top. She then took a flat iron and straightened her wavy brown hair. She looked in the mirror and realized she looked plain. So, she decided to try something she rarely did; wear make-up. She searched her purse and pulled out tubs of black mascara and beige lipstick. She looked at the make-up and felt intimidated. She wasn't too good at putting make-up on, she never had much experienced. But it couldn't hurt to try so Katie closed her eyes and placed the mascara on her eyes. She gobbled it on her lashes. She opened her eyes and saw the work. She was rather impressed with her eyelashes; they were long and full. If Katie did say so herself, she looked good. Satisfied with her eyes, Katie took out the lipstick, pucker she lips up, and smothered her lips with the beige color. She rubbed her lips together and blotted them with a tissue. She made sure that didn't have any lipstick on her teeth. She looked in the mirror and saw the finish product. Katie was pleased with how she looked. She suddenly felt something that she didn't feel often, pretty. Pretty and confident, Katie walked out onto the porch to the party. Beautiful people, women wearing Prada and Gucci, men in H & M, soon surrounded her. As the night went on and Katie socialized with her new friends, she couldn't help but feel insecure. Katie noticed that almost all of the women were very beautiful; they were thin, slender, and looked like models, far from what her friends back home looked like.

After the party was over and everything had been cleaned up, Charlotte and Katie sat on the beach, sharing a bottle of wine while looking at the ocean waves crash and fall in the night sky.

"Listen, Charlie, thank you so much for throwing this party for me," Katie said. "It was really, really nice of you."

They toasted our wine glasses. Charlie gave her a hug and said, "You're welcome, girl. I just wanted you to have a proper introduction to Southern California."

"Well, if you're tasking about a proper intro to Southern California, when are we going shopping on Rodeo Drive?" She asked. They both laughed.

"So, what did you think of my friends?" Charlie asked.

Katie took a deep breath and said, "They were very nice and friendly. But…."

"But what?" Charlie asked, as she slipped her wine.

"I just felt a little insecure, that's all," Katie said, running her fingers through the sand.

Charlie gave her a weird look. "Why would you feel that way?"

"Because the girls look like models, they're all lean and everything. I didn't see one full figured girl except me," Katie said. "All the girls were so beautiful." Katie looked down in deep sadness.

Charlie put her arm around Katie's shoulder. "Katie, you are beautiful," she said, softly. "You have a gorgeous face, amazing eyes, and the prettiest smile I've ever seen."

Katie looked at her friend and asked, "You really think so?"

Charlie rolled her eyes and said, sarcastically, "No, I'm lying." She turned serious. "Katie, you are a beautiful person, inside and out. You just need to believe that."

Katie smiled and said, "All right, I'll try."

With that, the two friends finished off the bottle of wine. Later that night, Charlotte went to sleep but Katie couldn't so she went into her stash of junk food in her sock drawer and pulled out a bag of M & Ms. She ate the whole bag in less than five minutes but she still felt sad.


	3. Nanny4Hire

Chapter 3

Katie woke up the next morning feeling very guilty about eating the candy. She realized that if she was going to feel more secure about her looks, she would need to eat healthy and exercise. So, she went threw on some workout clothes and her walking sneakers. She left a note for Charlie and went for a brisk walk. She walked along the pier in Santa Barbara. She power walked for a good 60 minutes. As a reward, she purchased a low fat smoothie and a newspaper and sat on a bench overlooking the ocean. As she slipped her smoothie and read through the paper, looking at the classifies. She wanted to find a job to help her pay for books and other expenses for medical school. She saw an AD that practically jumped out at her.

_**CHILDCARE**_

_**Wanted Part time Nanny for 1 year-old child.**_

_**Flexible days and hours. Competitive salary References required.**_

_**Contact Karen Vick KL5-7777.**_

Katie smiled at that AD. It was the perfect job for her!! Katie loved kids and wanted to be a child's doctor. Plus, she was a nanny and babysitter for several families in Minnesota. It was great!!! Excited, Katie power walked home and got on her laptop. Over the next hour, she perfected her resume. Then, she called Karen Vick.

"Chief Vick, may I help you?" She asked.

"Yes, my name is Katie McNabb," she explained. "I'm calling in regards to the advertisement I saw in the newspaper about a nanny."

"Yes, would you mind telling me a little bit about yourself?" Vick asked.

Katie took a breath and said, "Well, I just moved to Santa Barbara from Minnesota to go to medical school. I'm studying to be a child's doctor."

"And have you worked as a nanny before?" Vick asked.

"Yes, I was a nanny for three kids in Minnesota for five years," she explained. "And I have been a babysitter for various families for 15 years."

"Wow, you sound like nanny material," Vick said. "How would you like to come in for an interview today, say 4:30 pm?"

Katie quickly checked her schedule on her cell phone. She replied, "4:30 pm sounds wonderful."

"Perfect," Vick said. "I'll see you then."

"Okay, bye-bye," Katie said.

Vick said, "Bye, Katie."

Katie hung up the phone and jumped up, excited about her interview. She proceeded to find an outfit and organize her resume and references. Only one day in Santa Barbara and already she got a job interview!!! Things were really looking up!!!

As Katie was prepping for her job interview, Shawn and Gus were walking into the Santa Barbara Police Department (SBPD). On the way to the Chief's office, they passed by the desk of Junior Detective Juliet O'Hara. Shawn paused by the now-vacant desk. He fingered it, thinking of its occupant. The two had been good friends for a while. Shawn had a crush on her for the longest time and had been wanting to date her. After much persuasive, Jules agreed to go on a date with him. Six months later, the couple had fallen in love and were planning to get married. That scared him. He couldn't deal with the fact of falling in love and getting married so he went on a rode trip to LA to clear his head and think things through. While in LA, he ran into an old high school girlfriend, Natalie Amber Toscana, who was now a supermodel and as hot as ever. The two met for drinks and Shawn began to make out with her. Unbeknownst to Shawn, Juliet's sister, Jennie saw the two and told Jules. Shawn drove home to find an angry Juliet in his apartment. Juliet told him off and broke up with him right then and there. Two weeks later, Juliet took a job offer in Denver. Shawn will never forget the day when she was packing her apartment.

"Jules, come on," he said. "We can work this out."

Jules stood by her car, which had the backseat stuffed with suitcases and boxes. "No, Shawn, we can't. It's too late." She started to walk to her car.

Shawn stopped her by grabbing her shoulders. "No., Jules. It's not too late. I love you."

Jules rolled her eyes and scoffed.

"No, I do," he pleaded. "I really do. Can't you see that? Can't you see how much you mean to me?"

Jules broke away and said, "You love me? You go to LA and make out with some airhead bimbo and you tell me you love me? You know what, Shawn, you do not love, and you never did."

Shawn started again, "Jules—"

With that, she stormed off into her car. As she drove away, she rolled down her window and said, "You know something, Shawn. You don't know what love is. You will never know."

Shawn just stood there, in the middle of the parking lot. He saw the car drive away into the distance. He knew he would never see her again. The hot tears that blurred his vision now ran down his cheeks. They were tears of anger and regret. He was angry with himself for kissing Natalie. He was angry with himself for causing Juliet so much pain. As for regret, he regretted kissing another girl, obviously. Most of all, he regretted not taking the chance for a real relationship or real love with Jules.

So, Juliet left for Denver. And that was eight months ago. Every time Shawn passed by the desk, it was a reminder of the love he could have had and never would.

Shawn stood by the desk for a few minutes. Gus walked up to him and said, "Hey, Shawn, you ok?"

"You know, right here, was a picture of my first date with Jules," Shawn said. "We went to the Santa Monica pier. We got our pictures taken in the photo booth. We got cotton candy, rode the rides, slow danced on the beach to this gorgeous song from Martina McBride. It was perfect. And I blew it."

Gus put a warm hand on Shawn's shoulder and said, "Shawn, I know you're upset about Jules. But it has been almost a year----"

"Eight months, two weeks, and four days," Shawn corrected.

"Still, you need to get over Jules," Gus said, "You need to start going out more with nice, quality women. Not supermodel, super skinny girls. Real women. That's why I set you up with Cheryl."

"Gus, I appreciate it, but let's face facts," Shawn said. "I'm gonna be a bachelor for the rest of my life. I'm never going to fall in love. I'm never going to meet the woman who is 'love of my life'. There's no such thing as that."

"Never say never," Gus said.

The two walked into Chief's office.

"Mr. Spencer, Mr. Guster, thank you for coming down so quickly," she said. "We have a very important case that we need your help on."

Shawn had one of his visions. He noticed several pictures on the chief's desk. They contained a man and a woman, hugging each other and holding wine glasses. The woman was wearing what looked like a very expensive diamond necklace with a blue stone or diamond in the middle, Shawn didn't know.

Shawn pretended to have a vision. "I'm getting something," he spoke, dramatically. "I see a nickel, nest, no!! I see a necklace. A beautiful necklace with diamonds the biggest one of all, a blue one, is it a blue diamond or a sapphire? I'm not sure, the spirits are confused."

Chief Vick was amazed. "Yes, it is the blue diamond necklace," she said. "It belongs to the son and daughter-in-law of Santa Barbara's mayor, Stanley Kinkirk Cooper. It's an antique."

"I'm sensing that is was stolen from her," he said, presenting a dramatic routine, showing the motion of the necklace being removed.

"Yes!" she exclaimed. "The daughter-in-law, Laura Cooper was wearing it at the mayor's 65th birthday party. It was held at Promise to Keep resort in Santa Barbara."

Shawn stopped his visions and sat down. "What would you like me to do, Chief?"

"Go to the mayor's office and his son's home, interview them, see what you can get," Chief said. "Come back at around 5 o'clock."

Shawn agreed and he and Gus made their way.

"My family is devastated by this," the mayor said. "We have had that necklace in my family for years. My mother owned it, her mother owned, and so on and so forth."

"This necklace is so important," the major's daughter said, as she grasped her husband's hand. "It is symbol of love, because it's clear and true."

"It must be wonderful to have that necklace as a remainder of your love," Shawn said, rather dramatically.

"It is," she said. "Especially after everything I went through."

Shawn looked up and asked. "What happened to you, Mrs. Cooper?"

Laura forced back some tears and said, "Well, um, about five years ago, I was involved in a relationship with a bad man, a very bad man." Laura let go of her husband's hand and walked to the window. She stared at it and continued talking. "His name was Andrew Williams and we met in college. Anyway, he stared to get very jealous of me and what I was doing so he began to get physical and he, um, he... hit me."

Shawn and Gus shared a look.

Laura kept talking. "He beat me so bad that he put me in the hospital. I remember sitting there in my hospital bed, thinking, I do not deserve this. I do not deserve to be treated like an old rug. So, I left Andrew. " She stopped crying and walked over to her husband and grabbed his hand. With a loving look, Laura said, "I met and married Brian and things got better."

"But still, when my father was running for mayor, we began getting threats from Andrew," Brian explained. "Nothing happened but when the necklace was stolen, we assumed the worst."

"So, you think this guy possibly could have stolen the necklace or hired someone to steal it?" Asked Gus.

"We think so," Brian suggested.

"Is there anyway we could get a listing of the people who were working the birthday party?" Shawn asked.

"The best we can do is give you the name and number of the manager that means working the party," Brian said. "Maybe he has a listing of those who did work the party."

Brian handed them a piece of paper with the name of the manager. Shawn and Gus thanked the Coopers and left their home.

Shawn and Gus walked out of the mayor's office. "What do you have?" Gus asked.

"Well, there is so much love it's sickening," Shawn said in disgust.

"I mean, about the case?" Gus asked, rolling his eyes.

"This Andrew character had something to do with the stealing of the necklace," Shawn explained. "He was probably really, really, REALLY jealous of the fact that Laura married the mayor's son, who comes from money. It's typical male behavior, 'If I can't have you, I'll make whoever has you, miserable."

"Okay, so what do we do now?" Asked Gus.

"We go to the resort, interview the manager, waiters, waitresses, etc, etc, etc," Shawn said.

"Why on earth did you add three 'etceteras'?" Gus asked.

"I don't know, it just sounded good," Shawn said.

The two drove to the resort. They met up with Mr. Randall Jonas, the manager.

"Well, I could tell you that on the day of the party, we had heightened security," he explained, as the three men walked around the grounds. "We had security clearance on every worker. I can't imagine that one of my worsen had anything to do with stealing necklace."

"Well, according to the daughter-in-law, she had an abusive ex-boyfriend that was making threats," explained Shawn. "We thought that maybe he was working with one of the employees."

"Impossible," Mr. Jonas said. "We never allow anyone to work with our employees." With that, Mr. Jonas left.

"Great, now what?" Asked Gus.

Shawn had a vision. He saw a crumpled up piece of paper in the trashcan. He walked to the can and picked up the paper.

"Ewww, Shawn, must you always pick the garbage?" Gus asked in disgust.

"Yes, if it helps solves the case," Shawn said as he read the paper. The paper said, "The plan is in play."

"The plan is in play," repeated Shawn. "Hum. Something tells me that Andrew is behind this."

"How do you know?" asked Gus.

"Andrew makes threats, the necklace gets stolen," says Shawn. "This paper. It all makes sense. We need to find this guy."

"We going to need to find him later on," Gus said. "It's almost time to go meet the chief."

"Okay, let's go," Shawn said.

As Shawn and Gus made their way to back to the station, Katie was in her house, getting ready for the interview. After leafing through her clothes, she found a suitable outfit, a long jean skirt with a short sleeve black shirt. She then took her curling iron and curled her hair. She then finished off with mascara and lipstick. She looked in the mirror and was pleased with what she saw. She then grabbed her black purse and the folder with her resume and letters of references. She went into her car and drove to the Santa Barbara Police Department. She parked in the visitor's parking lot. She took a deep breath, said a prayer, and walked into the police station. She went to the main desk, signed in, and was given a visitor's pass. She sat down and waited to be called. As she was waiting, she saw her older brother, Buzz.

"Hey, Katie!" He said, walking over to her and sitting down. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to meet with Chief Vick for a nanny position," she explained.

Buzz's face lit up and he said, "A nanny position? That's great, sis! You'd be perfect for that."

"Yeah, well," she said, her voice dropping to a whisper. "I hope the chief thinks so."

"Well, she's coming right now," said Buzz, as they saw Chief Vick come. He turned to Katie, gave her a hug, and said, "Good luck, sis."

"Thanks, Buzz," she said.

Buzz left and Katie looked through her folder when the Chief walked up and said "Katie MacNabb?"

Katie looked up, gathered her things, and said, "Yes, I'm Katie MacNabb."

"Karen Vick," she said, extending her hand. "Nice to meet you, Katie."

Katie shook her hand and said, "Likewise, Mrs. Vick."

"Ohh, call me Karen," she said, waving her hand away.

"Ok, Karen," she replied.

"Come this way," she responded. Katie followed Karen to her office.

Once the two were seated and Katie gave Karen her resume, they began to talk.

Karen read through the resume and said, "Ok, you are from Minnesota. You graduated form Minnesota State, summa cum laude. You just got accepted to Walden Medical School, planning on becoming a pediatrician."

"Correct," she said

"I see you were a nanny for several families in Minnesota," she said. "And your most recent family was a pastor with five children."

Katie nodded.

For what seemed like forever, Chief Vick looked through the resume. Then, she walked to the window, holding a cup of coffee. She took a deep breath and said, "You know, Katie, I'll be very honest with you. I don't know you very well. I don't know what your intentions are. A million questions are running through my head, for example, how are you under pressure, if my daughter Iris got a fever and my husband and I are away, what would you do? I don't know if I can fully trust you with my child."

Katie felt her stomach do a huge somersault. But she kept calm, said a prayer, and listened, patiently as Karen continued.

"But sometimes, you have a sense about a person," Karen said, sitting back down. "And from the few minutes we've spent together, I can see that you're a good person. Obviously, you love children and you care for children. And you're passionate about wanting to become a doctor and help people. And for those reasons, I've decided to hire you."

Katie exhaled and said, "Aww, thank you. Thank you so much. You had me a worried for a little while." She laughed.

Karen joined her laugh and said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you."

"It's okay, you had every right," Katie said.

"So, if you want to take some time to think about it, you can," Karen suggested.

"Um, no, I'd like to formally accept," Katie.

Karen smiled and said, "Great. That works out perfectly. So, we will see you on Monday."

"Ok, great, thank you again," she said.

The two shook hands and said, good-bye.

Katie stepped out of the police station, smiling and all excited. She saw Buzz walking up from his car.

"Hey, girl, who did it go?" He said.

Katie tried to pay it cool but couldn't. "I got the job!" She squealed.

"Way to go, Katie!!" Buzz said. He reached over and gave a huge hug. "Congratulations. When do you start?"

"Monday," she said,

"Great, that gives us a few days to celebrate," Buzz said.

"Excellent, dude!!" She said.

"Well, I see that you've gotten the Southern California lingo down," Buzz said, laughing.

"Very funny," she said.

As brother and sister were talking, Shawn was walking from the police station, having just filled in the chief about the case. Gus had left early to work on his route.

Buzz saw them and said, "Hey, Shawn!!"

"Buzz, Buzz how are you?" Shawn asked, shaking Buzz's hand. "How's married life?"

"Excellent, getting better everyday," Buzz said. He wrapped his arm around Katie and said, "Oh, this is my little sister, Katie. She just moved her from Minnesota. Katie, this is Shawn Spencer, a good friend of mine, lifelong Santa Barbara resident."

"Hey, Katie, welcome to Santa Barbara," Shawn said.

"Thanks," she said. "Very nice to meet you, Shawn."

"Yeah, same here," Shawn said.

He extended his hands and Katie extended hers. As the two shook hands, Katie felt something, electricity. Still, she managed to stay focus and answer Shawn's questions

"So, what brings you to the Golden State?" Shawn asked.

"I'm going to medical school," she answered. "I'm studying to be a pediatrician."

"Sweet, that's awesome," Shawn said. "So, it's safe to assume you like kids."

"She sure does," Buzz chimed in. "She just a job as Chief Vick's new nanny. "

"Wow, now that is cool," Shawn said. "Congrats, Katie."

"Thanks, thanks a lot," she said.

"Have you had anytime to see Santa Barbara?" Shawn asked.

"Well, just a little bit," Katie said. "I just moved here a few days ago and haven't had time for much."

"So, a whole bunch of us are going to take Katie around this weekend to introduce her to California," Buzz said. "Hey, you should come with us."

"Ohh that's really nice of you but I don't want to intrude," Shawn said.

"Oh, no, you're not intruding," Katie reassured, with a smile. "We'd love to have a true resident of Santa Barbara come with us. And you can bring your girlfriend."

Shawn looked down and said, "Umm, I don't have a girlfriend."

"Aww, well, bring your best friend," Katie suggested.

"Yeah, my best friend's Gus," Shawn said. "He would love to come."

"Great, that's awesome," said Buzz. He checked his watch and said, "Wow. I got to get going. My lunch break is almost over."

Katie looked at her watch and said, "And I got lunch plans with Charlie."

"Is Charlie your boyfriend/' asked Shawn.

That question made Katie a little uneasy. She took a breath and said, "Um, no. My best friend. Her full name is Charlotte. We call her Charlie."

"Reminds me of Gus," Shawn said. "His full name is Burton Guster but we call him 'Gus'."

"How long have you guys have friends?" She asked.

"Since we were three and our mom met in the park," Shawn said.

"Wow, what a coincidence," Katie explained. "Charlie and I have been friends since we were three, too."

"Seriously?" Shawn said,

"Yeah, we met in a dance class and our moms were best friends since high school." Katie explained.

"Wow, that's amazing," Shawn said.

The two were so in depth talking that they didn't realize Buzz still standing there. They didn't realize that until Buzz said, "Uh, guys. I just said that we'll all meet on State Street on Friday afternoon."

Katie and Shawn focused their attention to Buzz and Katie said, "Great. I'll let Charlie know when I see her."

"I'll do the same for Gus," Shawn said.

"Okay, see you guys then," Buzz said.

"Bye, Buzz," they said.

Katie and Shawn looked at each other, speechless for a while. They studied each other. Then, Katie said, "Well, I better get going."

"Yeah, me too," Shawn said. "It was great meeting you."

"Yeah, same here," Katie said. "See you and Gus on Friday."

"See you and Charlie on Friday," Shawn said.

Shawn smiled at Katie and gave her a wink. Katie smiled back and gave a little wave.

As Katie walked back to her car, she thought about the man she had just met. She was so entranced by Shawn Spencer. He was so cute; brown, spiky hair that shone in the sunlight, hazel eyes that were friendly and cheerful, perfect, full lips that were meant for kissing her hand. He was simply the best looking guy she had ever seen. Please, he seemed easy to talk to. And for those two reasons, she felt a strong interest. And that scared her


End file.
